Ruellia brittoniana 'Purple Shower'

Vigorous, low maintenance, herbaceous perennial with magnificent purple-blue trumpet flowers produced year-round in mild climates and in large numbers.

Beautiful in a pot, to be collected in very cold areas, but also interesting in the border. Native to Mexico and Central America where it is used as a ground cover and covering. It spreads very rapidly, quickly becomes very dense, is drought resistant and is always in flower.
'Ruellia' derives from the name of the botanist and physicist Jean de La Ruelle, of the late 1400s, 'Brittonian' because the nomenclature derives from the botanist Lord Britton Nathaniel.

Classification
Common name: Mexican Petunia, Desert Petunia.
Genus and species: Ruellia brittoniana sin. Ruellia simplex, Ruellia angustifolia, Ruellia tweediana, Ruellia coerulea, Cryphiacanthus angustifolius.
Cultivar: 'Purple Shower'
Family: Acantaceae.

Characteristics
Description of the flowers: The flowers are trumpet-shaped and up to 5 cm in diameter, they open in the morning and close in the afternoon.
Flower color: Purple-blue.
Flowering period: All year round in mild climates; where deciduous it blooms for a very long time, from late spring to frost.
Leaves: Lanceolate evergreen, similar to those of a willow, dark green and shiny, up to 30 cm long and up to 2 cm wide, borne on purple stems.
Fragrance: Light and sweet.
Dimensions: Approximately 90 cm high, indeterminable width: it expands exponentially.

Cultivation
Exposure: Sun, partial shade. However, the quantity and duration of open flowers is linked to the amount of light the plant receives, which is why full sun is preferable.
Terrain: Any type of terrain, it is very adaptable.
Irrigation: In open ground it tolerates drought when it has taken root and is established, in pots it requires regular watering; if in a mild climate and in full fertile soil and watered regularly it is very invasive.
Frost resistance: USDA 9; USDA 8b, if mulched and in an adequate sheltered area, but loses the aerial part.

Care
Pruning: It can be trimmed to make it grow and branch. In climates where it is deciduous, it can be cut about thirty cm short at the end of the season and the foot covered with a layer of organic material (straw, leaves, evergreen branches, bark, compost...) to protect it.
Propagation: From cuttings above 20°C.